Australian_Yoga_Journal_-_September_2015_

Prana House are hosting Yoga Nidra teacher

training in Melbourne, November 2015; visit

http://www.pranahouse.com.au for details.

pure awareness evaporated my depression,”
adds Toyota.
Fellow senior iRest trainer and
Integrative Restoration Institute’s (USA)
director of operations, Stephanie Lopez,
was freed from a former lifetime of anxiety
when she discovered Yoga Nidra in 2002. “I
was blown away by the practice. All sense of
separation dissolved. It brought about a
deep sense of calm, balance and peace, and
has changed the nature of how I meet
myself and life,” declares Lopez, who
regularly hosts workshops and teacher
trainings in Australia with Toyota.

Peaceful sleep
If you have snoozed through Yoga Nidra
before, don’t despair; you wouldn’t be
alone, and Gargano assures work is still
being done. “The idea of falling asleep is a
subtle part of the practice where one phases
in and out of sleep and ‘yogic sleep state’,
also known as turiya (highest state of
transcendental consciousness). If a student
literally falls asleep throughout the
practice, their unconscious mind is still
receiving instructions and intentions and

therefore able to experience the many

benefits,” she says.

Contrastingly, drifting off isn’t easy for

the estimated 90 percent of Australians

who experience sleep disorders at some

point in their lives; commonly caused by

stress and chronic pain. At night, minds

can become preoccupied by ‘what-ifs’,

‘should-haves’ and must-dos’, or relentless

physical aches.

The required eight hours of shut-eye

becomes sabotaged, and well-being suffers.

In Yoga: the Path to Holistic Health (Dorling

Kindersley Limited, 2001), B.K.S. Iyengar

says simply lying in savasana ‘helps toward

refreshing, dreamless sleep, especially for

those with sleep disorders’. The practice of

Yoga Nidra in this position offers even

greater potential for peaceful sleep by

directly addressing obstacles.

“If we simply meet pain as a concept, we

move into our habitual patterns and

reactions to pain. However, in iRest Yoga

Nidra, we inquire into the actual direct,

felt-sense experience of intense sensations

as it arises in the body. When we meet

sensation as it is, many find that it opens its

inherent vibration. The sensation may

become less intense and may even dissolve

for periods of time,” explains Lopez.

The pattern of Yoga Nidra’s nurturing

cycle is clear; sleep better, feel better – and

vice-versa. This relationship is pivotal in

the eventual goal of applying Yoga Nidra’s

principles beyond savasana and the four

corners of our bed. Even if just for fleeting

moments, pure awareness of yogic sleep

can be integrated into waking hours;

perhaps simply noticing how breathing

alters in response to situations, or

observing vibrant hues of a rainbow that

fills a cloudy sky with promise. Yoga Nidra

lifts the fog so we can traverse our path

with greater clarity, more slow than go; this

fosters deeper connection not only with our

Self, but the world around us.

“I feel a deep interconnectedness with

life through living this practice. I believe I

am a better friend, spouse and human

being because of it,” inspires Lopez.

02 66 872 031 [email protected]

Teacher Training

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